NEWCASTLE Eagles coach Fab Flournoy is in good spirits and could be discharged from hospital this week, but it might be a while before he is back on court leading their charge for the title.

Flournoy was rushed to hospital last week with what was initially thought to be a blood clot on the lung.

Subsequent tests revealed the New Yorker was suffering from pneumonia.

Despite this, Newcastle’s game with Guildford Heat at Sport Central last Friday went ahead with Flournoy’s assistant Dave Forrester taking charge – the Eagles emerging with a 98-90 win thanks to a 29-point haul from Trey Moore and 24 from Joe Chapman.

They made a slow start, with Heat 23-18 up after the first quarter, but a 16-1 tear saw them take a 10-point lead in the second – only for Heat to peg them back to within one before the Eagles rallied back to lead 45-41 at half-time.

Newcastle then applied the screws in the third – at one stage opening up a 16-point gap – but Guildford proved hard to shake off as they entered the final quarter 84-78 behind.

The Eagles, though, were able keep them at bay to close out the win.

The following night saw them travel to winless Essex Pirates, where they went to the top of the BBL with a 91-74 victory with Chapman top-scoring with 29 while Charles Smith helped himself to 24. No doubt the victories will have cheered up their coach, but two wins in this weekend’s doubleheader at home to Cheshire Jets and at Glasgow Rocks could, according to managing director Paul Blake (pictured above), be a defining moment in the season.

He said: “First of all, I visited Fab last Saturday and he was in good spirits. The line from the hospital was that he might be discharged some time this week.